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Page 32 of Running Play (Gods of Campus #1)

Shelby

This is insane, the whole street is closed off and packed with people.

Food vans, carnival rides, and games cover the street.

The frat houses lining both sides of the street are all packed with people.

Disco lighting flows out their windows and music from the houses streams out into the area.

Crowds of people are walking in and out of the houses, eating, drinking, and laughing.

People in costumes everywhere, some amazing costumes, some hilarious, and some that don’t consist of much.

I stand in the middle of the road holding two buckets of fries as I take it all in.

A guy in a Ghostface costume stares toward me, the mask tilts slightly, like he’s considering something.

Then, slow and deliberate, he lifts a hand and waves.

It should feel like nothing. Just another Halloween gimmick.

But something about the way he does it, unhurried, focused, makes the air feel heavier.

My name being called has my head turning as Dani appears out of the crowd dressed in her cute Minnie Mouse costume that is attracting every guy’s attention.

The dress itself is modest and not sleazy, but when you look the way she does, she could come dressed in a potato sack and still be every guy’s fantasy.

I turn back to the Ghostface figure but he’s no longer there.

I glance around, scanning the crowd, even up and down the street, but he’s completely vanished.

“Here you go,” she says. “I got it from the Kappa Sigma frat house. They usually have the best girly cocktail drinks.”

“And here you go,” I say, passing her one of the buckets of fries, my nerves still rattled over the creepy costume but not letting it show.

“Divide and conquer,” she says, popping some fries in her mouth.

“So, have you found Tyler yet?” I ask. We only just arrived, but Tyler was supposed to head over with us, then he texted Dani saying he would meet us there.

She scans the crowd. “Not yet, but he should be dressed as Mickey Mouse if you see one around.” She shrugs, turning to look back at me.

“Tyler lost a huge bet to me when we were eleven. The wager was that I got to choose what we wore for Halloween every year for the next ten years. When he lost the bet, I don’t think he was overly fazed because our parents usually dressed us up to match anyway.

But now that we’re older, I still hold him to the bet.

He doesn’t like it, but he does it. He only has two years to go, so I need to make these last Halloweens fun and super embarrassing.

Maybe something involving tights like Peter Pan and Tinker Bell. ”

I laugh. “Robin Hood and Maid Marian,” I add in.

“Evil woman, I love it, maybe just a male and female ballet dancer,” she adds on a laugh.

“Or just two female ballet dancers, I’m sure he would rock a tutu.

” We both break out laughing, trying our best not to spill our drinks.

She takes a sip of her beverage, then balances her fries and drink in one hand.

“I love the way you look in your costume, by the way. You rock black hair,” she says, running her fingers through my fringe.

“I was thinking we might have needed to incorporate some guerrilla tactics or flanking maneuvers to keep Christian away from Lucas tonight, but with the way you’re looking, I know my brother is only going to have eyes for you.

Oh, here he comes,” she says, pointing behind me.

I turn around and watch Christian stroll toward us…no costume but looking smoking hot in a black shirt and jeans. A sly tilt of his lips, teasing but unreadable and holy shit, that’s sexy.

He pulls me in for a quick kiss. “You look amazing,” he says as he pulls away.

“Thank you,” I reply.

“I don’t think I would have found you in that black hair if I didn’t spot Dani first and know who you were going as.”

“I’m going to head off,” Dani states. “Lucas just texted and I’m going to go meet him.”

“Have a great night,” I say.

“Not too great,” Christian adds .

“Yeah, yeah.” Dani rolls her eyes and disappears into the crowd. He watches her and stares down a group of guys blatantly checking her out. They spot Christian as he clears his throat loud enough for them to hear, quickly diverting their eyes away from his sister’s ass.

“Where is everyone?” Christian asks.

Swallowing another sip and enjoying the fruity taste, I answer, “Letti and Travis are over there.” I point at a game stand.

He trails his eyes back to me. “Let’s go check it out.” He takes my food so he can hold my hand and leads the way through the crowd. When we arrive, Letti points to a large purple tiger. The attendant takes it down and hands it to her. She jumps, hugging it, then smacks a kiss on Travis’s cheek.

“Did you win?” I say as I approach them.

“Yep, isn’t he adorable, and in honor of today and how we are dressed, I shall name him Clyde,” Letti says, tapping the tiger on the nose with her finger.

“He’s so cute,” I reply.

“Talking about me, Shelby?” I turn my head and watch as Randy walks toward us with Seth and Walsh.

“You wish,” I reply.

“Good game last night, it was close,” he says, pulling me in for a hug.

“Thanks, I’ll get you next game.”

“Maybe you will, maybe you won’t.” He shrugs, smiling to a group of ladies dressed in matching cheerleader outfits walking by .

I straighten the gold Greek leaf crown on his head. “So, what is this? Are you meant to be some sort of prince?”

“What, no! I’m just myself,” he says, gesturing to his normal casual clothes. “But I’m wearing my crown because everyone knows I’m the god of this university.”

Walsh scoffs at that comment. “Please destroy the god, Shelby.”

“Yeah,” Randy adds in a sexual, teasing voice. “Please, dethrone me.”

Seth gently smacks him over the head, and it causes his gold leaf crown to tumble to the floor. “There, dethroned,” he says.

He pushes Seth playfully back although he doesn’t budge, then he bends down to pick up his crown and places it back on his head.

“You’re not star quarterback yet,” Christian adds.

“Oh, please! Rogers and I basically share the first quarterback position, and this is his senior year. Next year, the position will be 100% mine, it’s just a matter of time.”

Walsh is dressed in caramel khaki pants, white business shirt, and a kid’s green lightsaber is strapped to his belt. It’s a half-assed attempt at a costume, but he pulls it off, he’s Luke Skywalker.

“So, Shelby, do you have Halloween parties like this back home?” he asks, gesturing at the party taking place.

Shaking my head. “No, not at all. Halloween isn’t big back home. ”

“Geez, that’s boring. What did you guys do for fun then?”

“Well, for fun we head out into the city and go clubbing.”

“Really?”

“The legal drinking age in Australia is eighteen,” Seth says, looking bored with the conversation. His eyes, like usual, scan the crowd as he listens to the conversation.

“Yes, it is,” I say, kicking the ground with my red Converse that I bought especially for this costume. But I love them so much, I just know they will be getting lots of use. “I would go to clubs and pubs and drink with my friends,” I shrug.

“Well, crap, then you come here and go backward,” Randy states.

“Pretty much, but I’m enjoying it here. I love America, I can’t wait to get out and see the national parks and do some hiking. My friends and I did a lot of it back home.”

Christian claps his hands together. “Cool, let’s go camping.”

“We could head out to our usual spot and go swimming and stay the night,” Walsh says, adjusting the lightsaber on his belt.

“I’m down,” Christian says. “What do you say, Shelby?”

“Really? That sounds great, I would love that.” I say in delight, but I sense Letti pick up on my slight apprehension.

“Oh, I’m in,” Letti says. I shoot her a grateful look because I really want to go, but at the same time, I know I couldn’t go without her.

“Okay, so when are we going?” Travis asks.

“We have a Wednesday night game next week, so I’m free that weekend. How about you?” Christian asks Travis.

“Yeah, we have a Wednesday away game, home that night. With training I think I could only do the Friday night away,” Travis replies.

“Yeah, Thursday we will have class, and our team debrief, so we could only do the one night also. So, do we want to lock it in for next Friday morning then?” Christian says.

“Sounds good,” Travis replies as Randy and Walsh nod their heads.

I look up at him and smile. I’m so excited to be spending more time with him and our friends.

“Great, I can’t wait,” Letti says. “So now that that’s organized, let’s go dance,” she adds, grabbing my hand.

“Where are we going?” I ask her.

“To that house,” she says, pointing to the house that’s all decked out with lights and a massive sound system.

Looking through the windows, you can tell the place is packed.

Its name is displayed in Greek symbols above the door, but I’ve yet to learn what all those symbols mean.

Phi Omega Delta or something like that. I look back to Christian.

“I don’t dance. You guys go. I’m going to find my teammates, but I’ll come and get you later,” Christian says, pulling me in for a kiss.

If the kiss alone didn’t make me weak at the knees, the feeling of having him claim me does.

Christian Stone chooses me! Out of all the ladies he could have, he chooses me.

It’s surreal and I can’t help but smile as the butterflies dance around in my stomach.

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